Sports

Tuesday, September 12, 2000

Balmorhea girls host Valentine

PECOS, Sept. 12, 2000 -- The Balmorhea Bears volleyball team will face
the Valentine Pirates tonight at home, following a 1-2 weekend at the Marfa
Invitational Tournament.

The Bears lost their opening round game to the Dell City
Cougars, 16-14, 15-12, then came back to down the Sierra Blanca Vaqueros, 15-10,
14-16, 15-11, before falling to the Kermit Yellowjackets in the
consolation finals of the tournament, 15-12, 15-8.

"Against Denver City we came back to tie the game at 14-all,
but then the officialat a crucial point called an overlapping on us
(on serve reception)," said coach Gary Gallego. "Then we played a
real good game against Sierra Blanca, but in the game against Kermit
we just kind of ran out of gas."

Gallego said he used a nine-player rotation for the first time this
season at the Marfa Tournament, and that sophomore setter/hitter Julia
Garlick "played real well," with 23 kills
and 35 assists in the three matches. Celina Rodriguez had 20 kills, 35 digs
and five blocks during the tournament, and freshman Amber Briceno
"played one of her better games," with 10
kills and seven blocks in the tournament.

The Bears are 8-5 overall on the season following this past
weekend's matches. Tonight's match with the Pirates is the first of two meetings
with Valentine this month, and the first of two matches on the Bears'
schedule this week. They'll go to Fort Stockton for a match Saturday afternoon.

Eagles host three teams, play two matches today

PECOS, Sept. 12, 2000 -- The Pecos Eagles' eight-day homestand comes to
an end this evening, when they host a trio of teams and play a pair of
matches at the Pecos High School gym.

Pecos will host Presidio, Fort Stockton and Monahans and will
face the Blue Devils and Prowlers in games starting at 4:30 and 8 p.m.
Presidio and Fort Stockton will also face Monahans in between the
Eagles' matches against the Prowlers and Blue Devils.

The Eagles had a three-way match last Tuesday, beating Dell City
then losing to Van Horn, after winning the opening game. Pecos then
downed Greenwood after a slow start on Saturday, 17-15, 15-5 to improve
their season record to 15-5 going into the final week before District 2-4A play begins
at home next Tuesday against Clint.

The Eagles and Blue Devils missed each other in the Sandhills
and Cantaloupe Classic Tournaments, but Presidio has gotten in a number
of matches against Pecos' District 2-4A rivals. The Blue Devils own
three wins over Fabens and one against San Elizario, while losing to
Canutillo at the Sandhills Tournament the opening weekend of the season.

The Eagles also have yet to face Fort Stockton this year, after
the Prowlers opted to skip both the Monahans and Pecos
tournaments. Fort Stockton did defeat the Eagles twice last season in Pecos, however.

Bears miss early chances, fall to Panthers

PECOS, Sept. 12, 2000 -- The Balmorhea Bears had the same fumble problems
at the outset of their game against the Whitharral Panthers that they ran
into a year earlier. But the Panthers didn't have the same difficulties
they did in last season's 35-34 loss to the Bears, and avenged last year's
loss to Balmorhea with a 45-0 victory at home Friday night.

Balmorhea lost the ball twice inside the Whitharral 10 yard line
in the first period, once on a fumble and the other on an interception, and
the Panthers shut the Bears down the rest of the way, going out to a
30-0 halftime lead.

In the second half, the Bears fumbled the ball away twice in
the first minute of the third period, and the Panthers converted both
into scores on their next offensive play. Steven Lopez passed 36-yards
to Greg Cirilo for one score and Rocky Reyna ran 21 yards for the next
TD. Trevor Nuckles then caught a one-point conversion pass from
Jaime Chavez to end the game under the 45-point rule 1:33 into the
third period.

Lopez ran for 106 yards and two touchdowns on the night, and
the Panthers, ranked No. 1 in this week's six-man football poll, gained 183
yards on the ground overall and had no turnovers on the night, while
holding the Bears to just 80 yards in total offense.

The loss left Balmorhea with a 1-1 season record going into
Friday's game at Ackerly against the Sands Mustangs. Sands lost this
past Friday night to the Bears' District 8-A rival Sanderson, by a 48-24
final score.

Balmorhea roping winners announced

By JENNIFER WARD
Contributing Writer
BALMORHEA, Sept. 12, 2000 -- It was a windy Saturday at Hoffman's Arena in
Balmorhea, when local cowboys participated in The Labor Day Team Roping
competition. The Sept. 2 event lasted seven hours, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.,
and was part of the Balmorhea Labor Day Festival

In the youth division, Russell Garlick and Logan Furlong took top
honors, while in the Open Division, Wilson Capron and Jimmy Steve Martinez
won first. . Tres McElroy and Scott Wash finished second, and Ruben
Martinez and Jimmy Steve Martinez in third. Jimmy Steve Martinez was the
buckle winner.

In Roping # 8, Cris Henderson and Pete Galvan were first, Ruben
Martinez and Neal Martinez were second, and Tres McElroy with Guy
Wayne Weatherman were third. Pete Galvan was the buckle winner of the go-around.

In Roping #6, "Lupe" and Robbie Cabezuela took top honors;
Ruben Martinez and Jim Roberts were second, followed by "Lupe" and Jaimie
Galvan in third. "Lupe" won the buckle.